A young boy (a pre-The Wonder Years Fred Savage) is sick at home, so his doting grandfather (Peter Falk) comes to visit him. Grandpa insists, despite the boy's persistent scepticism, on reading him a story which has become like a family heirloom: S. Morgenstern's The Princess Bride. It follows Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright), heir to the fantasy realm of Florin, who spends her days masking her crush on farmhand Westley (Cary Elwes) by shamelessly bossing him around. But he doesn't mind; because he loves her equally he's more passive with her than a stunned mullet. Indeed all he ever says to her is "As you wish." (Elwes has been quoted as saying women have approached him ever since asking him to say that to them.) However, she's betrothed to the pompous and power-crazed Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) who has her kidnapped and him killed (or so he thinks). Now Westley, disguished as a Zorro/Errol Flynn type, embarks on a quest across Florin to exact revenge and free his Princess, while a grandfather and grandson slowly bond over their story.
William Goldman wrote the novel The Princess Bride after one of his daughters told him to write a story about a princess and the other said he should write one about a bride. It was published in 1983 and after several attempts under numerous directors, Rob Reiner finally brought it to the screen in 1987. Coming just a year after his coming-of-age masterpiece Stand by Me and before that the teen romance The Sure Thing and rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, Reiner was the ideal director for this one because it enabled him to indulge in his love for and skill at genre-fusion more than ever, and to satisfy his inner child. He also had a strong basis in Goldman's riotous screenplay which admirably acknowledges and meets the audience's desire to have our intelligence catered to; much of the dialogue here will infiltrate your conversation immediately if you're anything like me. There's also very rich production design and cinematography, and an infectiously emotive score from none other than Mark Knopfler (yes, the Dire Straits frontman).
But the real meat in this delicious sandwich for me is the impeccable cast. Wright brings immense strength and beauty to the would-be damsel-in-distress, Elwes makes the traditionally (read: predictably) dashing hero into one with a refreshingly cynical sense of humour, Sarandon has fun showing his nefarious side, and there's very funny cameos by Peter Cook, Mel Smith and especially of course Billy Crystal. But shining brightest of all are Westley's sidekicks: Wallace "INCONCEIVABLE!" Shawn as the irritable, duplicitous Vizzini, Andre the Giant as wingman Fezzik and most of all Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya, who's out to avenge his father's death at the hands (no pun intended) of the six-fingered Count Rugen (Reiner regular Christopher Guest). Collectively and individually, they always have me wishing I could be transported to Florin to join them.
The Princess Bride was a commercial flop initially, but once it was released on VHS it gradually became a true, massive cult smash and it deservedly remains so today. In the making-of documentary on the DVD, Patinkin even calls it the Wizard of Oz (which itself, ironically tanked at the box office) of his generation, which is probably true. As a fractured fairytale, a romance, a celebration of family and storytelling, and a work of metafiction, The Princess Bride is pure magic. If you ever wanted me to watch it with you, naturally I'd say "As you wish."
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